ABSTRACT
Thoracic aortic disease continues to be associated with a significant burden of morbidity and mortality, notably for patients presenting with acute aortic syndromes such as rupture or type A aortic dissection. Prevention of such complications is based on intervention guidelines focused solely on aortic diameter. However, a recent report from the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissections revealed that nearly 60% of aortic dissections would not be prevented by the current intervention guidelines. This illustrates the need for a method that will better assess the risk of aortic complications. Cardiovascular imaging, such as echocardiography, provides a non-invasive approach for evaluating the biomechanics of the aorta. Over the last 15 years, pulse wave velocity has shown to be an effective method to calculate stiffness. Recently, other ultrasound-derived biomechanics parameters such as the stiffness index and Cardiac Cycle Moduli have shown significant correlation with ex vivo-measured biomechanics and histopathological markers of aortic disease. Looking to the future, ultrasound-derived biomechanics parameters may help in selecting patients for intervention by providing information on the integrity of the aortic wall beyond size.
